Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, July 15: India’s longest road tunnel connecting Chenani in Udhampur district and Nashri in Ramban district, is likely to be thrown open by the ending of September this year and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally inaugurate the same.
The fresh deadline was decided today after detailed review of the ongoing and pending works of the tunnel project, during a high level meeting of the officers of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the Concessionaire, IL&FS.
Authoritative sources told the Excelsior that more than ninety percent civil work on the project has been completed while the installation of equipments and gadgets like Sound Diffusers, Ventilators, fans, fire fighters, Electrical Panels and Transformers etc, inside the tunnel, is under progress and likely to be completed by August 15.
This will be followed by testing of the installed equipments and electric gadgets, which may take approximately 30 to 40 days and the tunnel will be in a position to be thrown open for vehicular traffic by September 25,” sources added.
The fresh deadline is three months later than the time limit set initially for completion of the project, which was earlier scheduled to be finished by May 21, 2016 and then extended by 50 days to July 10, 2016.
While confirming that the ongoing work on tunnel project was in final phase, Regional Officer of NHAI, R P Singh informed that the pending jobs like construction of pavements inside the tunnel, link roads, electrification, installation of equipments and testing of the same are likely to be finished in next two months.
“Around 1100 meter pavement road in main tunnel and 7 km in Escape tunnel from Chenani end are ready while more than fifty percent work on electrification and 40 percent on ventilation system have been completed,” he elaborated and added that pace of work on installation of equipments was satisfactory.
However, R P Singh admitted that external work on link road pavements was getting affected because of rainy season and restrictions on blasting for cutting of earth. “These two reasons are hampering pending work on construction of pavement on Chenani end and cutting of around 40,000 cubic meter earth on Nashri end of the tunnel but we are hopeful that within a week’s time, things will be okay for resuming sufficient pace of work,” he said.
Pertinent to mention the executing agency was earlier hopeful of completing this Rs 2519 crores project by December 2015, around five months ahead of the deadline, because of more than satisfactory pace of work. However, a controversy over payments and claims between Concessionaire IL&FS and main contractor Leighton led to slowing down of the work and then complete abandoning of job by the latter in November 2014 after which the Main Developer, National Highway Authority of India, engaged multiple agencies for completion of the project with new deadline of July 2016.
Once completed, the Chenani-Nashri tunnel will act as an all-weather alternative to the existing NH-1A section connecting Chenani in Udhampur district with Nashri in Ramban district. It will reduce the existing road distance between the two points from 41 kms to 10.89 kms.
Keeping in view of its significance and being longest road tunnel in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is understood to be invited for its formal inauguration and dedicating the same to the nation, sources said.
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